Some Muslim writers routinely respond to questions about the reliability of the Qur’an with claims that it contains ‘scientific miracles’. Quite how this ‘cancels out’ all the scientific errors in the same book is not explained. Still, it would be useful to examine the most famous of these claims to see if it can stand up to scrutiny.
Muslim apologists often claim that one of the most important scientific ‘miracle’ in the Qur’an is the fact that it accurately describes the the growth of an embryo when it discusses human development. They point to Qur’an 23:12-14 (see also 22:5) for confirmation of this:
And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay.
Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging [i.e., the womb].
Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators.
So how will we know if this description is indeed miraculous? I would suggest the following test. The ‘embryology’ verses in the Qur’an will have to be: 1) Scientifically accurate 2) Unique 3) Information that Muhammad could get from no other source than Allah.
Let us now examine these three areas. Firstly the question of whether the Qur’anic account is accurate.
1) Is the Qur’anic description of human embryonic development scientifically accurate?
When we examine these verses, we see that, according to Muhammad, humans develop through the following stages in the womb:
1) Sperm
2) Clot of blood
3) Embryonic lump
4) Grows bones
5) Covered with flesh
6) Fully formed
Some problems with this explanation immediately become apparent:
No mention at all is made of the female contribution (the 'egg' or ovum). It simply describes the sperm 'mutating' into a clot of blood.
There is no stage of development during which the embryo resembles a 'clot of blood'. The only time when an embryo will resemble a ‘clot of blood’ is when a miscarriage occurs.
There is no stage of embryonic development during which the embryo turns into bones or a skeleton around which flesh is subsequently grown. The bones of an embryo develop long after it is encased in flesh. The Qur'an therefore has it exactly the wrong way around.
So the 'embryology' found in the Qur'an too vague to be of any use and is totally unscientific. It therefore does not pass the test for accuracy.
2. Is the description of embryonic development that we find in the Qur’an unique?
The next question we have to ask is if this description of embryonic development is unique to the Qur’an or if someone else before Muhammad articulated the same thoughts? To put it in another way: Could Muhammad have copied someone else? The answer: Yes.
Let us now turn to Qur’an 22:5, another verse that deals with human development. Here Muhammad describes the process in the following way:
O People, if you should be in doubt about the Resurrection, then [consider that] indeed, We created you from dust, then from a (1) sperm-drop, then from a (2) clinging clot (2), and then from a lump of flesh, (3) formed and (4) unformed - that We may show you. And We settle in the wombs whom We will for a specified term, then We bring you out as a child’.
Here are the stages of embryonic development according to his text:
1. Seminal Fluid (nut’fa)
2. Clot of Blood (‘alaqat)
3. Unformed Embryo (unformed mud’gha)
4. Formed Embryo (formed mud’gha)
It turns out that Muhammad’s version of embryonic development is an almost exact copy of the ideas of Galen (130-200 AD) the ‘Father of Medicine’. Here is what Galen wrote about embryonic development. Note the startling similarities with Qur’an 22:5:
But let us take the account back again to the first conformation of the animal, and in order to make our account orderly and clear, let us divide the creation of the foetus overall into four periods of time. The first is that in which. as is seen both in abortions and in dissection, the form of the semen prevails. At this time, Hippocrates too, the all-marvellous, does not yet call the conformation of the animal a foetus; as we heard just now in the case of semen voided in the sixth day, he still calls it semen. But when it has been filled with blood and heart, brain and liver are still unarticulated and unshaped yet have by now a certain solidarity and considerable size, this is the second period; the substance of the foetus has the form of flesh and no longer the form of semen. Accordingly you would find that Hippocrates too no longer calls such a form semen but, as was said, foetus. The third period follows on this, when, as was said, it is possible to see the three ruling parts clearly and a kind of outline, a silhouette, as it were, of all the other parts. You will see the conformation of the three ruling parts more clearly, that of the parts of the stomach more dimly, and much more still, that of the limbs. Later on they form "twigs", as Hippocrates expressed it, indicating by the term their similarity to branches. The fourth and final period is at the stage when all the parts in the limbs have been differentiated; and at this part Hippocrates the marvellous no longer calls the foetus an embryo only, but already a child, too when he says that it jerks and moves as an animal now fully formed. (Corpus Medicorum Graecorum: Galeni de Semine ‘Galen: On Semen’ Greek text with English trans. Phillip de Lacy, Akademic Verlag, 1992, section I:9:1-10 pp. 92-95, 101)
So, you can see that far from being unique the Qur’an 22:5 presents us with an almost exact copy of Galen!
1. Semen
2. Blood
3. Form of flesh – Unformed (Outline, silhouette)
4. Form of flesh – Formed (Have been differentiated)
There you are, proven beyond doubt that Muhammad was simply repeating things that was regarded as ‘common knowledge’ by anyone who studied medicine in the ancient world. Remember Galen was the standard textbook for Greek inspired medical learning. This would have included medical schools in the Persian Empire.
3. Did Muhammad have access to Greek Medical Thought?
Muslim apologists may respond to the above by claiming that Muhammad would have had no way to gain access to this information as he lived in the middle of a desert. This objection is quite easy to deal with.
Islamic tradition is clear on the fact that Muhammad was a merchant who travelled all over the ancient world. So even if he could not access this information in Arabia he would have been in plenty places where Galen’s theories would have been common knowledge. He would have constantly interacted with people from the Byzantine (Roman) and Sassanian (Persian) empires. Galen was taught in the medical schools of both these empires.
There is, furthermore, also solid evidence that a medically trained person was present in Arabia at the time of Muhammad who could have transmitted Galen’s ideas to him. He was a doctor who trained at a famous Persian medical school (at Gundishapur or ‘Jundi Shapur’) where Galen was a key part of the curriculum:
Such medical knowledge as Muhammad possessed he may well have acquired from Harith bin Kalada, an Arab, who is said to have left the desert for a while and gone to Jundi Shapur to study medicine...On his return Haris settled in Mecca and became the foremost physician of the Arabs of the desert. Whether he ever embraced Islam is uncertain; but this did not prevent the Prophet from sending his sick friends to consult him. (Cyril Elgood, A Medical History of Persia and the Eastern Caliphate: From the Earliest Times Until the Year AD 1932 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 66)
According to the Sira this doctor treated at least two of Muhammad’s companions Sa’d ibn Abi Waggas and Abu Bakr. Here we have confirmed contact between Muhammad and someone who would have known Galen by heart.
4. Conclusion
Let us revisit the questions that I spelled out at the beginning:
Is the Qur’anic description of human embryonic development scientifically accurate? No it is not. It diverges significantly from how modern science describes the process of human development.
Is the description of embryonic development that we find in the Qur’an unique? No it is not. Qur’an 22:5 is a direct repetition of how Galen, the ‘Father of Medicine’, described human development in the womb.
Would Muhammad have had access to Greek medical ideas? Certainly, he travelled all over the Middle East as a trader and would have been in touch with Romans and Persians who knew these ideas well. He also had contact with a physician (Harith bin Kalada) who trained at the famous Persian medical school at Gundishapur where Galen was a key part of the curriculum.
Do we have a bona fide ‘miracle’ here? On the basis of the evidence, absolutely not.
For more information about the supposed ‘scientific accuracy’ of the Qur’an as well as a thoroughgoing critique of Islamic historical and theological claims please read ‘Questioning Islam - Tough Questions and Honest Answers About the Muslim Religion’
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